1927 science fiction movie
Rating: 9/10
Plot: In the futuristic titular city, the rich thinkers live above the ground, frolic in beautiful gardens, and wear some of the gayest costumes imaginable. The workers exist subterranean where their jobs are often dangerous. One of the above-grounders, the knickerbockered Freder Fredersen, spots Maria, a sort-of prophet from below who babbles on and on about how the “heart” will someday join the “hands” and the “head” together. People just listen to her because she’s a cutie. Freder is enamored and heads down to do some stalking, and he ends up taking the place of one of the workers. This is kind of an issue since Freder’s father is Joh Frederson, the leader of Metropolis. Meanwhile, an inventor who once loved Joh’s dead wife has invented a hot robot woman.
This was the first time I’d seen the two-and-a-half-hour restored version from 2010. It looks terrific for the most part with giant music, and the added material definitely makes it more coherent than the version I saw a long time ago. This was the first full-length science fiction movie, and Lang’s not horsing around, creating an epic that you could almost accuse of being overly ambitious.
The message behind the story might be as relevant as ever, but I don’t really watch movies for the politics or social critiquing. The themes, if anything, are a little heavy handed. But the wonderful visuals make up for all that, making this a milestone and an artistic achievement. These are some of my favorite visuals ever, and seeing things filmed in the mid-20s that seem brand new to me in 2014 is nothing short of movie magic.
Start with the most indelible image–that hot robot woman. Should I be this sexually attracted to a robot? A scene where Maria–Brigitte Helm who is quite the silent babe herself–transforms into the robot is mesmerizing, and the special effects really wouldn’t catch up for another thirty-five years. The early scenes of the workers marching to their jobs, despondently and in unison, and an opening shift change sequence is fascinating. The machinery below, just like the urban landscapes above, are so big and beautiful. I liked watching the workers at their tasks.
There’s a rhythm to their work that would have existed even without the aid from the music. I also liked the visuals during a chase scene through catacombs, one of the finest examples of Expressionistic setting. Seven deadly sins statues certainly are sharp, and a truly menacing flood scene with camera angles and movements and quick cuts used to artificially create the action makes for a terrific climax. Hell, just the impressive array of extras is enough to get you excited. This thing really is fucking grand! Brigitte Helm is a star here, versatile and sexy.
I’m wondering if she got the part right after the producers saw her eyes or if they had to see her long beautiful fingers, too. Her physicality in that chase scene is great pantomime, but when she belly-dances–as the robot–in translucent clothes? Well, it’s something to behold, and I am not ashamed to admit that it gave me a Roaring Twenties boner. I really loved the reactions of the men during that scene, their faces piled on top of each other with the magic of superimposition.
What a scene that is. She wreaks havoc, including some gay silent movie fisticuffs. And when she winks in this movie? I paused the movie to thank God. Gustav Frohlich is your typical dopey 20’s cinema hero. And those knickerbockers! They might make it difficult for some people to root for Freder in this. Then again, this takes place in 2026 which means I only have to wait a few years for extreme knickerbockers to come back in style. I can’t wait.
By the way, if I were Freder’s father, I think I’d put a stop to the way he touches me in this. The inventor’s an interesting character who never makes much sense at all, and there’s a guy called the “Thin Man” who really should be called the “Oddly-Shaped Man.” My favorite male character was chubby Grot played by Heinrich George. He’s the “hands” if you’re keeping score at home, and he has this burning-at-the-stake dance scene that is pretty sweet.
I also like his method of avoiding handshakes–stubbornly shoving both hands down the front of his pants–and may borrow the move. A lot of people think silent movies are really boring. They’d probably think this movie is really boring, too, but I don’t think there’s any way somebody can watch this and not be impressed with the vision of the people who put this together and the execution to get that vision on the screen.
